Mercury-extraction ore-treatment apparatus



July 9, 1968 J. G. FISHER MERCURY-EXTRACTION ORE-TREATMENT APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed June 2l, 1965 July 9, 1968 J. G. FISHER MERCURY-EXTRACTION ORE-TREATMENT APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 21, 1965 Il :i 111111K@ m QM. Nmvmmw. E u f o w... T. 1* MH lill NNY

United States Patent O 3,391,916 z NIERCURY-EXTRACTION ORE-TREATMENT APPARATUS Jack GrFisher, Los Angeles, Calif. (11032 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood, Calif. 91601) Filed June'21, 1965, Ser. No. 465,474 Claims.' (Cl. 266-18) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The specification discloses a static furnace having an extended longitudinal static material-treatment portion which has a hollow substantially cylindrical interior carrying therein a rotatably mounted longitudinal hollow material-flow tube of smaller cross-sectional diameter and adapted to be heated by hot furnace iiue gases passing inside of the static extended material-treatment portion of the furnace and outside of the rotating material-flow tube, thus providing a type of rotary longitudinal furnace or kiln which operates in a counterow manner with respect to the hot furnace flue gas and in a manner completely physically separated therefrom but in effective heat transfer relationship relative thereto. The inner rotary material-flow tube is provided with one or more wheels extending outwardly therefrom and lying in corresponding annular recesses formed in the static extended material-treatment portion of the furnace and extending outwardly to the periphery thereof in a manner effectively closing the annular opening and also enabling the rim of the wheel to be supported on underlying roller means carried by structural support members. The output end of the material ilow tube, in one preferred form, is also provided with vapor extraction means for receiving and condensing vapor produced from the heated material passing through the material-flow tube.

In a broad sense, it may be said that the present invention relates to the mining field and, more particularly, to` the treatment of mercury-containing ore, such as cinnabar or mercurio sulphide ore, or the like, for the purpose of extracting mercury therefrom. The apparatus of the present invention comprises a very simple apparatus for treating such ore for the extraction of mercury at very low cost per unit of ore handled, or per unit of mercury extracted therefrom, and which eliminates and overcomes most of the major prior art problems which have existed in the past in the extraction of mercury from such ore and which have effectively increased the prior art cost per unit of mercury for such prior art extraction of mercury from ore of the type referred to above.

It should be noted that cinnabar, or mercuic sulphide ore, is customarily, according to prior art practice, treated in any of several different ways. In certain cases, it may be crushed, if necessary, and it may be gravityconcentrated by various conventional gravity-concentration methods well-known in the art since such cinnabar ore has a relatively high speciic gravity, as compared to the conventional or usual gangue material.

The mercury in the concentrate may then be extracted by froth flotation followed by retorting the flotation concentrate or otherwise removing the mercury therefrom, or in other cases the ore may be directly roasted in a rotary kiln, or the like, for the effective disassociation of the ore into mercury and sulphur and for the elective vaporization of the mercury and subsequent condensation thereof. This vaporization and condensation separation and recovery method is based upon the fact that the mercury and sulphur ore in cinnabar ore usually become disassoeiated with its temperature is raised to a magnitude of between 500 to 600 degrees centigrade, at

3,391,916 Patented July 9, 1968 which temperature the disassociated mercury turns to a vapor at ordinary atmospheric pressure.

The above-mentioned roasting or retorting procedure, which produces disassociation of the ore and vaporization of the mercury, followed by subsequent condensation thereof, is only suitable for ore which does not contain any very ne dust or very small particle sizes since the conventional prior art rotary kiln passes the entire volume of hot ilue gases over, through, and in intimate contact with the ore and at very substantial velocities such that any ore in the form of dust or relatively small particle sizes will be picked up by reason of the velocity of the hot flue gases and carried completely through the kiln to the outlet end thereof. This normally requires use of means for recovering said dust which may then be concentrated by flotation, or the like, or otherwise accumulated in the form of a mud which must then be further treated for the recovery of the substantial amount of mercury contained therein. This further recovery treatment may involve a further retorting and/or additional processing, all of which adds to the cost of the processing per unit of mercury finally recovered or per unit of ore handled.

Even in these cases where the ore does not contain any such dust or line particle sizes, but is of a substantial particle size and thus is supposedly, according to conventional prior art practice, ideally suited for the above-mentioned type of prior art treatment by roasting same in a rotary kiln which vaporizes the mercury, which is subsequently condensed, it will be noted that a major disadvantage still exists in that all of the hot ue gases will normally have to be passed through the condenser since said ue gas has been in direct intimate contact with the ore in the kiln during the heating of the ore. This necessarily increases the required size and capacity of the condenser means and further complicates matters since it will be found that a considerable amount of other materials will also be condensed with, or washed out of, the considerable volume of the hot ue gases, thus necessitating further treatment thereof in order to extract the mercury therefrom, all of which adds to the cost of the overall processing per unit of mercury extracted or per unit of ore handled.

The novel apparatus of thepresent invention virtually completely eliminates and overcomes the Iabove-mentioned prior art disadvantages since the hot llue gases do not ever come into direct contact with the ore during the heating therefrom by said hot ue gases and, therefore, no contamination of the hot flue gases can possibly occur in the above-mentioned undesirable prior art manner. Furthermore, it makes little or no difference whether the ore contains fine dust or fine particle sizes since the substantial velocity of the hot iiue gases cannot pick same up in the above-mentioned highly undesirable prior art manner by reason of the complete isolation of the ore,

which is moving downwardly angularly in one directionl from the hot flue gases which are moving upwardly angularly in the opposite direction.

Thus no dust recovery problem is encountered and, therefore, no treatment of the ue gases for the purpose of recovering any such dust and -any mercury which might be contained therein is required by the novel apparatus of the present invention. Indeed, the complete volume of hot ue gases may be directly exhausted to atmosphere without any treatment of any kind and certainly without the neceessity, in the above-'mentioned undersirable prior yart manner, of said complete volume of hot ue gases being fed through a condenser, washing unit, or other dust and mercury extraction and recovery means. The above-mentioned major advantage of the present invention greatly reduces the required size and capacity of the condenser means, and the reduced amount of handling ofthe hot flue gases and treatment o f anyrconcentrate separated therefrom, in the manner required in accordance with conventional prior art practice, as referred to above, gre-atly reduces the overall cost of processing mercury ore with the apparatus of the present invention. This, -ofcourse, and as a consequence thereof, 4greatly reduces the cost of the ore processing and mercury extraction per unit of the mercury extracted or per unit of the ore handled and additionally reduces the capital invest- "ment required for the equipment correspondingly.-

The abovev advantages are achieved largelyby. reason of the complete isolation of the ore and the h ot furnace ue gases, although they are in a very effective form of heat transfer relationship which minimizes the amount of fuel required by the furnace and, therefore, correspondingly reduces the cost of the ore processing. This is brought about by reason of the contraflow or counterow arrangement of the apparatus of the present invention with respect to the feeding of the ore angularly downwardly and the feeding of the hot furnace tiue gases upwardly angularly with respect tofeach other while in heat transfer relationship. It will be noted that as one proceeds angularly upwardly along the flowing hot furnace flue gases, they will lbecome progressively colder or less hot while, similarly, the downwardly angularly feeding ore will also become progressively colder at any given position with respect to the corresponding hot ue gases in heat transfer relationship with respect thereto. This causes the temperature differential which exists at any given location along the heat transfer region of the hot iiue gases and the ore to maintain a much more nearly consistent value than would otherwise be the case if they were both fed in the same direction, which would produce a maximum temperature differential at the beginning of the heat transfer Zone and a minimum temperature differential of very -much les-s magnitude at the end of the heat transfer zone.

The novel contraow or counterflow arrangement of the present invention, by reason of said characteristic of tending to maintain the temperature differential between the hot ue gases and the ore along the length of the heat transfer zone, produces the most effective transfer of heat from the hot ue gases to the ore and, therefore, by merely adjusting the overall length of said heat transfer zone, virtually any desired amount of the total available heat in said hot flue gases may be extracted prior to exhausting same to ambient atmosphere through an exhaust ue. This of course maximizes the thermal etiiciency of the apparatus of the present invention and reduces the fuel costs Vfor operating same.

In addition to the above contraow or counterow arrangement which produces maximum thermal eiiiciency in the novel apparatus of the present invention, its abovedetailed major advantages also ste-m from the provision of a novel mercury vapor extraction means or system which is in interior communication with the heated ore at the lower end of the heat transfer zone (where said ore has achieved its maximum temperature sufiicient to disassociate the ore and vaporize the dissassociated mercury thereof) and which is not in communication with the hot furnace due gases at all. This, of course, means that said vapor extraction system or means only has to handle a relatively small volume of mercury vapor accompanied |by a small amount of air and need not handle the vastly greater volume of hot furnace ue gases, as is frequently the case in conventional prior art appaartus. This is a major advantage since it reduces the size and, consequently, the cost of not only the pumping means employed for moving the mercury vapor as opposed to the complete volume of hot furnace flue gases, but also correspondingly reduces the required size and cost of the condenser means.

The above briey details certain of the major advantages of the improved apparatus of the present invention with respectto the handiing of mercury-containing ore and the efficient extraction of mercury therefrom. However, the' advantages ofthe present invention are not limited to those detailed abovembut also lie in certain important structural features, suchas the novel mounting means (including support means) of the present invention which rollably support a longitudinal ore-ow tube through which the ore'is. angularly downwardly Vfed as it is rotated and in which it is heated'by-the surrounding hot furnace ue gases. Said novel mounting meansmount and support said rotating ore-ow tube at allinecessary and required locationsfUsually these comprise the opposite ends thereof, at one of which driving means for lrotating said oreow tube is normally provided, and also at one or more intermediate locations along the length of said ,ore-dow tube. These latter intermediate mounting means are extremely important since it will be understoodv that the entire ore-flow tube and, inparticular, portions near to the furnace means becomes quite; hot during the operation ofthe apparatus, which has the effect of weakening the metallic materia-l of which it is made (usuallyhigh- Astrength steel, although ynot specifically so limited), and if it were unsupported between lthe ends thereof, intermediate heated portions of said relatively lengthy orteow tube would tend to sag and become misaligned with respect to the rest of the apparatus, which would probably lead to serious operational difficulties and complete failure of the apparatus. Y

However, the present invention provides the novel mounting means referred to above, which are capable of rotatably supporting said longitudinal ore-How tube at any number of desired locations along the length thereof, while in no way interfering with its positioning inside of an outer furnace portion so that the hot furnace flue gas may flow around said ore-flow tube in heat transfer rela.- tionship with respect thereto. Thus the novel mounting means of the present inventioncomprise another major advantage of the invention which, incidentally, may be independently usable in arrangements other than mercury extraction apparatus of the specific type describedin detail hereinafter and, indeed, may be generally usable in rotary kilns or in various other apparatus having similar intermediate mounting and/or supporting problems, and this feature of the present invention is intended to be covered in all such apparatuses and/ or usages.

The above-mentioned longitudinal ore-flow tube may be provided with air inflow means adapted to supply a predetermined amount of air to the interior thereof, oritmay be of a controllably adjustable nature adapted to be adjusted so as to supply any required amount .of airv to-the interior thereof, primarily for the purpose of effectively oxidizing the sulphur released as a result of the heatcaused disassociation of the mercurio sulphide ore produced by the heat of the furnace meansso that it will not re-combine with the vaporized mercury.

v With the above points in mind, it s an object of the present invention to provide a novel mercury extraction ore treatment apparatus and/or method of the character referred t0 herein, havingthe advantages referred to herein, generically and/or specifically, and individually orin combination, and which is of relatively simple, inexpensive, readily assemblable and disassemblable (and, therefore, readily movable) construction 'adapted for ready mass manufacture at relatively low Vcost and which is characterized by extremely'low cost per unit of ore handled and/ or per unit of mercury extracted therefrom, whereby to be conducive to widespread use thereof and to thermining and-processing oftmercury-containing ores otherwise considered to be marginal or submarginal `a11d,`therefore, conventionally considered to be economically unworkable.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide anovel mercury-extraction ore treatment apparatus of the character referred to herein, wherein the mercury-containing ore is passed along a substantial heat transfer zone in highly effective contraflow or counterow heat transfer relationship with respect to, but completely physically isolated from, hot furnace Hue gases, whereby to produce an optimum roasting of the ore and consequent disassociation thereof whereby to release mercury therefrom and vaporize same in a highly e'icient and low-cost manner.

It is a further object .of the present invention to provide novel apparatus of the character referred to in the preceding object, including novel mercury vapor extraetion means for directly extracting said mercury vapor produced from the mercury disassociated from the ore by said heat and without in any manner requiring the handling, by said extraction means, of the hot tiue gases.

It is a further object `of the present invention to provide apparatus of the character referred to in the second preceding object, including the novel mounting means (including support means) capable of being positioned in supporting relationship at any desired locations along the length of an ore-flow tube adapted to be heated by surrounding encompassing hot furnace ue gases, without in any way interfering with a furnace extension portion conning said hot tine gases to ow along and around said longitudinal ore-flow tube.

Further objects are implicit in the detailed description which follows hereinafter (which is to be considered as exemplary of, but not specifically limiting, the present invention), and said objects will be apparent to persons skilled in the art after a careful study of the detailed description which follows hereinafter.

For the purpose of clarifying the nature of the present invention, one exemplary embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the hereinbelow-described figures of the accompanying two sheets of drawings and will be described in detail hereinafter.

FIG. l is a reduced-size, fragmentary, partially-brokenaway, three-dirnensional, pictorial view illustrating one exemplary embodiment of the present invention. It should be clearly understood that, for drawing space conservation reasons, two intermediate portions of the device are broken away and removed entirely in .order to effectively shorten the lateral extent of the apparatus which normally is substantially longer in a lateral direction than shown in FIG. l and includes additional mounting means (including support means) spaced along the length of the intermediate portion thereof.

FIG. 2 is a side view similar in many respects to FIG. 1 although being a true Orthographie side view rather than an oblique view in the manner of FIG. l. Furthermore, this view largely comprises a substantially vertical central plane sectional view taken along the plane indicated by the arrows 2 2 of FIG. 1 although certain parts of the apparatus are shown in full side elevation in FIG. 2 rather than in section on said central plane as indicated by the arrows 2--2 of FIG. 1. This is done in order to supply the greatest possible amount of information in FIG. 2.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged View taken substantially along the plane indicated by the arrows 3 3 of FIG. 1 and l;

primarily comprises a cross-sectional view of the extended tubular or treatment portion of the heating furnace means and the hollow ore-flow tube rotatably concentrically mounted therein. However, an upper portion of the support means effectively rollably supporting said inner oreow tube is shown fragmentarily in elevation in FIG. 3.

FIG. 4 is a further fragmentary view taken substantially along the plane indicated by the arrows 4 4 of FIG. 3 and comprises a central plane section taken along the axis of an exemplary one of the plurality of stress-transmitting spokes effectively connecting the stress-transferring outer rim of the wheel means, rollably supported on the roller means of the underlying support means, to the centrally concentrically positioned inner ore-iow tube.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary View, taken substantially along the plane indicated by the arrows 5 5 of FIG. 2 and comprises primarily an end elevation of a lower outflow terminus or discharge end of the ore-flow tube and the means there provided for controlled gravityfeeding discharge of treated ore, and also the air inflow means there provided for allowing inflow of air into the hottest portion of the interior of the ore-ow tube for oxidizing disassociated sulphur in order to prevent recombination thereof with disassociated mercury Vapor.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view taken substantially along the plane indicated by the arrows 6 5 of FIG. 2 and comprises substantially a fragmentary plan view illustrating another adjustable air inflow means carried by the upper or ore inow end of said ore-flow tube.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view, partly in section and partly in elevation, taken substantially along the plane indicated by the arrows 7 7 of FIG. 2 and Iprimarily illustrates feed control means for gravity-feeding, in a controllably adjusta-ble manner, a desired quantity of mercurycontaining ore from the ore supply bin and hopper means into the inflow end of said ore-flow tube, and taking the form of a controllably adjustable regulating gate means and inclined spout connected to the lower end of said ore supply bin and hopper means.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional View taken substantially along the plane indicated by the arrows 8 8 of FIG. 7.

Generally speaking, the exemplary form of the present invention illustrated comprises heating furnace means having an extended tubular or treatment portion extending laterally and slightly angularly upwardly from a main portion of the furnace means and in interior communication therewith and having positioned therein a closed through-passing hollow ore-ow tube made of a metallic material of high thermal conductivity so that ore may be introduced at the upper end of said ore tube, which is rotated by suitable driving means, whereby to feed the ore from said upper end downwardly angularly and laterally toward the main furnace portion while hot furnace flue gases are simultaneously passing upwardly angularly in the opposite direction around and along the exterior of said hollow ore-flow tube so that said ore will be very effectively heated by the contraliow or counterflow arrangement just described in general terms and will arrive at a lower portion of said ore-flow tube within the main furnace means, but completely physically isolated therefrom, at an elevated temperature sufficient to disassociate mercury ore of the mercuric sulphide or cinnabar type into mercury and sulphur, with the mercury being immediately vapor-ized into mercury vapor and directly and positively extracted from said lower maximum temperature portion of said ore-flow tube, which may be termed the extraction portion thereof, to a position exterior thereof and being subsequently condensed Aback into purified liqui-d mercury. Said mercury vapor extraction is performed by suitable mercury vapor extraction means and said condensing of the vaporized mercury is performed by suitable condenser means.

In the exemplary form of the invention illustrated, the above-mentioned heating furnace means is generally designated by the reference numeral 29 and may be said to comprise a main furnace portion 22, which effectively comprises a hollow fire box means designated by the same reference numeral and which defines therein an interior main furnace heating chamber designated at 24.

In the exemplary form of the invention illustrated, said heating furnace means generally designated at 20 also is provided with the hereinbeforegenerally-referred-to extended ore treatment portion, which, in the exemplary form of the invention illustrated, takes the form of a longitudinal cylindrical hollow tubular ore treatment furnace extension portion generally designated at 26, which directly communicates, through the opening 28, with the interior main 'furnace heating chamber 24 and which, therefore, is adapted to directly receive therefrom hot furnace flue gases when the fuel-burning heating means generally designated at 30 is in operation.

It will also be noted that, in the exemplary form of the invention illustrated, the extended tubular ore treatment furnace portion 26 has a remote end portion designated at 32 laterally spaced from the fire box means 22 vand slightly elevated thereabove so as to position sai-d tubular ore treatment furnace extension portion 26 in' an upwardly inclined laterally extended relationship from the fire box 22 to an upwardly directed exhaust flue 34 connected to said remote or upper4 end portion 32 thereof. lnother words, said laterally upwardly inclined extended tubular ore treatment furnace portion 26 is positioned at f a predetermined pitch angle adapted for appropriated exhausting of hot ue gases from the main heating chamber 24v of the furnace tire box 22 and, more particularly, adapted for the effective downward flow of mercury ore in the inner longitudinal ore-flow tube, which is generally designated bythe reference numeral 36, from'the upper in llow end 38 thereof to the lower outow or discharge end 40 thereof. This ore-feeding action,"of course, is also a function of the rate at which the inner longitudinal oreflow tube 36 is rotated, as will be described in greater detail hereinafter.

It should be noted that the longitudinal ore-flow tube 36 referred to generally above is usually of substantially cylindrical configuration having an exterior cross-sectional diameter substantially smaller Vthan the interior crosssectional diameter of said ore treatment tubular furnace extension portion 26 and is mounted by suitable mounting means, which will be described in greater detail hereinafter, concentrically therein whereby to define between the exterior of said longitudinal ore-flow tube 36 and the interior of said tubular furnace extension portion 26 a longitudinal upwardly angularly inclined annular hot furnace flue gas passage designated by the reference numeral 42 and extending from, and in communication with, said interior heating chamber 24 ofthe furnace tire box 22 as a source of hot flue gases passing through said annular passage 42, and also'being in communication with the previously mentioned exhaust flue 34 for effectively exhausting said hot furnace flue gases after they have passed along the complete exterior length of said longitudinal ore-fluid tube 36 positioned within said tubular furnace extension portion 26 and have effectively transferred most of the available heat from said hot furnace flue gases through the -wall of said ore-flow tube 36 to the interior thereof and to mercury ore such, as that generally designated at 44, adapted to be fed along the bottom inside surface thereof. In other words, it may be said that the above-mentioned hot lue gas passage 42 is in a highly effective form of contraflow or counterow heat transfer relationship with respect to the inner concentrically positioned or-flow tube 36 for very effectively heating the ore 44 adapted to flow therethrough.

` The effectiveness of the transfer of heat from the hot ue gases along the length of the annular passage 42 through the exterior wall 46 of the longitudinal ore-tube 36 to the interior thereof and to the ore 44 carried within said interior thereof, is enhanced by reason of the fact that the contratlow or counterow arrangement of the hot ue gases along the passage 42 upwardly and angularly, and the oppositely directly downwardly and angularly directed ow of the ore 44 (of course, in a manner isolated from each other by said wall 46 of the ore tube 36) causes the hottest flue gases, which will, of course, be at the left end of the ore treatment furnace extension portion 26, to be in heat transfer relationship with respect to the hottest portions of the ore 44, while the coldest portions of the hot flue gases (which will, of course, be in the right end of the ore treatment furnace extension portion 26) Will be in effective heat transfer relationship with respect to the coldest portions of the ore 44. This has the effect of maintaining as nearly constant a temperature differential across the wall 46 of the longitudinal ore-flow tube 36 as is possible, which maximizes thermal efficiency as opposed to an arrangement Where said temperature differential varies from a very large or extreme magnitude at one end of the ore heating region to an extremely low magnitude at the other end of the ore heating region.

Such a conventional prior art heating arrangement produces extremely low thermal efliciency and greatly increases the fuel consumption required for effectively heating a quantity of ore and also reduces the amount of the available heat which is extracted from the hot'furnace ue gases so that, with such a non-c-ontrailow or noncountertow prior art arrangement, the hot ftue gases eX- hausted to atmosphere will still 'be' at a relatively high temperature and will carry olf to ambient atmosphere and waste a great amount of heat. However, the improved contraow or counterflow arrangement of the present invention just described produces ar maximum thermal e'i'- ciency and a minimum fuel consumption of the fuelburning heating means 30 and also produces a maximum extraction'of the 'available heat from the hot flue gases flowing along the annular passage 42 so that by the time they are exhausted through the exhaust flue 34 to ambient atmosphere, a much larger amount ofthe available heat has been extracted therefrom and said exhaust ue gases have dropped to a relatively low temperature. Of course, this may be adjusted and controlled by varying the length of the passage 42 and/ or the rate of flue gas ow therethrough, the turbulence thereof, the thermal conductivity of the material of which the wall 46 of the ore-ow tube 36 is made, and by modifying the extent of the thermal insulation means 48 effectively insulating the furnace extension or treatment portion 26. All of these factors and others, such as the amount of ore 44 fed through the ore-flow tube 36, plus other conventional well-known factors affecting heat transfer may modify the amount of heat extracted from the hot ue gases in the passage v42 and, therefore, consequently modifying the temperature of the hot liue gases exhausted through the exhaust flue 34. However, the essential principle of the improved thermal etiiciency of the present invention in any given size and/ or volumetric capacity, by reason of the contraflow or counterflow arrangement described above are still valid and effective and comprise a substantial advantage over conventional mercury ore roasting means.

It should be noted that the heating means 30 has been referred to above and is shown in the drawings as being of a fuel-burning type which normally comprises conventional burner means 50 provided with controllable airaspirating means generally indicated at 52 for providing a mixture of fuel and air of optimum combustibility when emitted from the burner means 50. The fuel might comprise oil, natural gas, manufactured gas, petroleum products, or any other suitable fuel, and the invention is not specifically limited to any 'particular type of burner means or any particular type of fuel adapted to be burned thereby.

Also in an even broader sense, it should be noted that the present invention does not relate to the detailed nature of the heating means 30 but merely requires that it be capable of providing heat and, therefore, it should be noted that said heating means might in certain forms of the invention, lcomprise some other form of heating means which does not actually burn fuel. For example, it ymight comprise an eflicient form of heat exchanger means adapted to be supplied with a heated working medium fed thereinto from 'a suitable source thereof or it might comprise an electrically energizable heating means or any other equivalent arrangement capable of providing the desired amount of heat for the interior chamber 24 of the furnace fire box means 22.

It will be noted that because of the substantial length of the ore treatment tubular furnace extension portion 26, it is necessary to provide supplementary structural support means therefor and additionally and for similar reasons, itis necessary to provide additional support and/ or mounting means of a structurally `strong type for mounting and'positioning said ore-flow tube 36 in the previously described concentric relationship within the ore treatment furnace extension portion 26. In the latter case, the mounting Yproblem is complicated by reason of the fact that said inner ore-ow tube is rotatably mounted for rotation around a longitudinal axis thereof which is also the longitudinal axis of said furnace extension portion 26.

The complication in the rotatable mounting of said inner ore-flow tube 36 arises from several factors, such as the very substantial length of said ore-flow tube 36, the great weight of said ore-flow tube 36 and the ore 44 adapted to flow therethrough, and the fact that said oreflow tube 36 is heated to very substantially elevated temperatures by the hot flue gases passing along the exterior thereof by way of the annular passage 42, as previously described. Of course, the maximum heating of said oreflow tube 36 will occur at the lower end thereof inside of the interior heating chamber 24 of the main furnace re box 22 and at regions of the ore-flow tube 36 near the right side of said furnace tire box 22.

Therefore, in order to properly rotatably mount and support said inner ore-flow tube 36, the present invention includes a novel type of mounting means such as is generally designated at 54 and which, in the exemplary form of the invention illustrated, is shown as comprising a plurality of circumferentially enlarged stress-transferring wheel means 56 effectively concentrically rigidly connected to and supporting said longitudinal ore-flow tube means 36 at any required number of spaced locations along the length thereof by means of a plurality of longitudinally effectively apertured and perforated radial wheel spoke means S8 whereby to effectively cause the longitudinal ore-dow tube means 36 to comprise a common hub for all of said plurality of wheel means 56.

The above-mentioned mounting means generally designated at 54 also includes a plurality of opstanding structural support means, such as generally designated at 60, provided at the top thereof with roller means 62 rollably receiving and supporting corresponding rim portions 64 of corresponding ones of said plurality of wheel means 56, thus positively rotatably supporting the longitudinal ore-flow tube means 36 at each portion thereof rigidly carrying such a wheel means 56.

One or more (actually, as many as needed) of said plurality of upstanding structural support means 60, and the corresponding stress-transferring wheel means S6, may be positioned between opposite ends of the tubular furnace extension or treatment portion 26 and, in each such instance, said tubular ore treatment furnace extentherein and substantially fill said annular recess 66, thus providing for exterior rollably supported contact of the corresponding roller means 62 with the exterior rim 64 of said particular intermediate stress-transferring wheel means 56, as is best shown in FIGS. l and 2.

At least two of said upstanding structural support means 60, and the corresponding enlarged stress-transferring wheel means 56 rollably carried thereby, are positoned closely adjacent to opposite ends of the ore-flow tube 36, such as the lower outflow end 40 and the upper inflow end 38 of said longitudinal ore-flow tube 36, at locations which are completely beyond corresponding ends of the furnace extension or treatment portion 26, thus acting to support said inflow and outflow end portions 38 and 40 of said longitudinal ore-flow tube 36 exterior of the concentrically engaged relationship thereof within the ore treatment furnace extension portion 26.

The lowermost one, or the left one as shown in FIGS. l and 2, of said structural support means 60 has the rollers 62 thereof effectively provided ywith thrust flange means 68 which engage side portions of the rim 64 of the corresponding stress-supporting wheel means S6 rigidly connected by the spoke means 58 to the longitudinal cre-low tube means 36 adjacent to the lower discharge or outflow end portion 40 thereof, thus effectively providing means for receiving and reacting to the thrust thereagainst provided by reason of the downward angular inclination of said longitudinal ore-flow tube 36. This is for the purpose of effectively supporting the very substantial weight of said ore-flow tube 36 against longitudinal movement along the longitudinal axis thereof in a downward leftward direction as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2. This effective thrust neutralizing action of the lowermost or left structural support means 66 may be enhanced by mounting the left pair of rollers 62, having the thrust flanges 68, on suitable thrust bearing means if desired (said thrust bearings not being shown, since such are well-known in the art).

The uppermost, or right, structural support means 60 and the corresponding stress-transferring wheel means 56 are positioned to the right of the ore treatment furnace extension portion 26 and also are eectively provided with appropriate driving means, such as is generally designated at 70, in elective driving relationship with respect to said ore-flow tube 36 for rotating same around the longitudinal axis thereof in the manner previously generally described.

It will be noted that said driving means, in the exemplary form of the invention illustrated, comprises an ore cylinder circumferential drive gear 72 carried by the right side of the right hand one of said previously described stress-transferring wheels 56 which is in driven engagement with respect to a pinion gear 74 mounted on the drive shaft 76 of the driving motor 78 which, of course, is adapted to be controllably energized by suitable control means (not shown, since such are well-known in the art). Usually, suitable reduction gear means will by employed and such are not shown in the drawings, since such are well-known in the art. The reason for this is the fact that the ore-flow tube means 36 is normally adapted to be rotated at a relatively slow rotation rate of only the required number of revolutions necessary per minute to provide a proper feeding action of the ore 44 longitudinally along the bottom inside surface of the ore flow tube 36 from the inflow end 38 thereof to the outflow or discharge end thereof.

Each of the structural support means referred to above may comprise a number of column members or vertical load-supporting members 80 provided with suitable base means 82 and may vary widely in construction and configuration within the broad scope of the present invention.

Each of said structural supporting means 60 has two sets of opposed pairs of upwardly extending spaced ears 83 which rotatably mount the corresponding pair of said roller members 62 which are spaced so as to lie in substantially the same horizontal plane symmetrically positioned on each side of a vertical central plane bisecting the longitudinal ore-flow tube means 36, thus providing an effective two-point support at each support means 60 for the corresponding stress-transferring wheel means 56. In the case of each of the intermediately positioned ones of said structural support means 60 which lie below said ore treatment furnace extension portion 26, the upper ends of said column members 80 are effectively provided with structural extension bracket members 84 adapted to firmly engage and support exterior portions of said furnace extension or treatment portion 26 whereby to firmly support same at said intermediate locations.

It should be noted that the ore-flow tube means 36 at each of its opposite ends extends through corresponding apertures 86 and 8S so that the corresponding lower discharge end portion 40 and corresponding upper inflow end portion 38 of said longitudinal ore-flow tube means 36 are positioned beyond and completely outside of the furnace extension ore treatment portion 26 and also the main furnace fire box 22. The aperture or hole 86 is actually in the left side wall of the main furnace fire box 22 and a small annular clearance space of perhaps one-eighth of an inch radial dimension, or the like, is provided to allow the ore-flow tube 36 to rotate with respect to the aperture 86 while not allowing any very substantial amount of heat loss therethrough. A similar small annular clearance space is provided between the other aperture 88 in the opposite, otherwise closed, end wall 90 of the furnace extension ore treatment portion 26 for similar purposes. Incidentally, it should also be noted that similar small annular clearance spaces are provided on each side of each intermediate stress-transferring Wheel means 56 which is positioned Within the corresponding one of the previously mentioned annular spaces or recesses 66 provided in corresponding intemediate portions of said furnace extension ore treatment portion 26.

In the exemplary form of the invention illustrated, said lower discharge end portion 40 of the ore-flow tube means 36 is effectively provided with a partially closed terminal discharge end panel or portion 92 carried by a tube 122 (which will be described hereinafter) closely adjacent to and across most of the upper portion of the discharge end 40 of the ore-flow tube 36 and having a cut-away portion at the bottom thereof providing a bottom discharge opening 94 for discharging treated ore, from which mercury has been extracted, into a discharge chute means, such as is generally designated at 96 and which may have a remote effective out flow end which is adapted to be moved from one location to another so that discharged, previously treated ore or tailings may be disposed of in a manner not providing a single large pile thereof. Of course, this may be supplemented by additional material-moving means such as conveyor belt means, or various other material-moving means for appropriately disposing of such tailings if desired and since such arrangements are well-known in the art, they are not shown in full detail in the drawings of the present invention.

The upper inflow end 38 of the ore-fiow tube 36 is substantially closed by a plate or closure member 98 which has an aperture 100 therein adapted to receive the lower dispensing spout portion 102 of an ore supply and feeding means generally designated at 104 and taking the form of a bin and hopper 106 adapted to be supplied through a top opening 108 with a quantity of mercurycontaining ore such as mercurio sulphide or cinnabar ore, or the like, usually in crushed, particulate, or comminuted form, and which is adapted to be angularly downwardly dispensed through the dispensing spout 102 into the inflow end 38 of the longitudinal ore-flow tube 36 in a gravity-feeding manner whenever the controllably adjustable regulating gate means 110 is vertically angularly elevated so as to allow a bottom portion of said ore to slide along the bottom surface of said angularly inclined dispensing spout 102 onto the bottom inside surface of the longitudinal ore-flow tube 36. Thereafter, the ore 44 will be fed along the bottom inside surface of the longitudinal ore-flow tube 36 as a result of the rotary lifting and falling movement imparted to said ore 44 by reason of the angular downward inclination of said ore-flow tube 36 and by reason of the rotation thereof provided by the driving means generally designated at 70.

Incidentally, it should be noted that the lower plate 92 closing the lower discharge end 40 of said longitudinal ore-How tube 36 may be controllably adjustable fiow regulating gate means of the same general type as designated at 110 at the bottom of ore supply and feeding means 104, although it is not specifically so limited in all forms of the invention.

The longitudinal ore-flow tube means 36 may be effectively provided with air-infiow means in interior communication therewith for providing suflicient inow of air (actually the oxygen of the air) thereinto for substantially completely oxidizing sulphur disassociated from mercuric sulphide ore 44 by reason of the heating thereof by the hot furnace fiue gases. Such air inflow means may be controllably adjustable to provide the desired amount 12 of air (and, therefore, oxygen) to correspond to the volume of disassociated sulphur produced; by 'the' operation of the apparatus.

In the exemplary form of the invention illustrated, said air inflow means is generally designated by the reference numeral 112 and is provided at both the lower outflow end 40 and the upper inow end 38 of the longitudinal ore-flow tube means 36, although the invention' is'not specifically so limited. A'

As illustrated, said air inflow means' 112 comprisesv an adjustable air valve opening means 114 effectively provided in the lower terminal effective end plate 92, and the upper air inflow means 112 takes ythe form of the previously mentioned plate 98, which is adjustably spaced. ly mounted by adjustable mounting means 118 in a controllably longitudinally spaced relationship with respect to the otherwise open end of the inflow portion 38 of said longitudinal ore-flow tube means 36. In either case, said air inflow means 112 is adjustable for the purpose of controlling the -amount of iniiow of such air for the effective neutralizing of sulphur disassociated from the mer-` cury ore 44 as a result of the heating thereof by the" hot furnace flue gases to a temperature in the range of between 500 to 600 degrees centigrade. In certain forms of the invention, said air infiow means 112 may be of a non-adjustable type, may be located at only one of the ends of the ore-fiow tube 36, or. may be otherwise in interior communication therewith. y

The apparatus of the present invention also includes novel mercury vapor extraction means, such as is generally designated at 120 which is in effective interior communication with the extraction portion of said oreiiow tube 36 in that portion thereof which lies in sealed and isolated relationship within the heating chamber 24 of the furnace fire box 22; said extraction portion of said ore-iiow tube 36 being that portion generally designated at 36.

In the exemplary form of the invention illustrated, said mercury vapor extraction means 120 comprises a mercury vapor extractor tube 122 having suction pump means 124 connected to -an outside end thereof exterior of the ore-dow tube 36 and the furnace fire box 22 and having an open suction or insertion end 126 which is extended through the substantially closed end or effective lterminal plate 92 closing off most of the lower discharge end 40 of the ore-ow, tube 36 and which extends concentrically along the interior of said ore-flow tube 36 into said extraction zone or region 36 where the open end of said extractor tube 122 is in direct communication with mercury vapor produced from the ore 44 which has been disassociated by reason of the high heat applied thereto (said heat also vaporizing the disassociated mercury). In other words, it will be understood that the suction pump 124 directly andV positively sucks the mercury vapor through the open suction tip 126 ofthe extractor ,tube 122 to a position completely exteriorof the entire .furnace means 20 after which the mercury vapor is passed through a condenser means, such as is generally designated at 128, which acts to recondense the mercury vapork into the form of liquid mercury adapted to be discharged through the discharge end 130 of said condenser into any suitable receptacle for receiving the extracted and purifiedl mercury. It should be noted that in the example illustrated, said condenser means 128 takes the form of an effective heat exchanger comprising a coiled length of .tubing 122' in communication with the mercury vapor extraction tube 122 by way of the pump means 124 and with said condenser tubing 122 being coiled within an outer container 132 which effectively comprises means for applying a coolant liquid, such as is designated at. 134, to the exterior of said condenser tubing 122 whereby .to extract heat therefrom and effectively condense the mercury vapor back into liquid form. v,

While the condenser means 128 illustrated in the drawing and described above comprises one form thereof wall 136 made of high-strength metallic material such as steel, or the like, lined with suitable thermal insulation material such as the refractory tire brick means 48. However, these structural features may be modified within the broad scope of the present invention.

Incidentally, it should be noted that, in certain of the drawings, such asin FIGS. 1 and 2 for example, the thermal` insulation material taking the form of ,refractory rebrickmeans 48, which actually lines the complete furnace means 20 including both the Viire lbox means 22 and the'lateral extension ore treatment portion 26 thereof, is not shown in detail'with respect to all of the rectangular grid-like edge abutment or junction lines between adjacent bricks which one would normally see when viewing said firebrick means 48 in elevation, such as is shown fragmentarily in FIG. 4, for example. It is to be understood that all of said rebrick means would, when seen in elevation, resemble the fragmentary showing thereof illustrated in FIG. 4, and that this is not done in various of the other views of the drawing for reasons of drawing simplification and clarity, and since the detailed structure of the refractory rebrick type of insulating means 48 does not touch upon the inventive aspects of the present invention and, furthermore, is well know in the art.

It should also be noted that the ow of the hot furnace flue gases along the annular passage 42 is substantially unimpeded by the radial spokes `58 rigidly connecting each of the stress-transferring wheel means'56 to the corresponding portion of the longitudinal ore-now tube means 36 since large effective apertures or passages 13S are defined between each arcuately adjacent pair of said spoke means 58. However, in certain forms of the invention it may be found that the hot liue gases may provide excessive localized heating of said spoke means 58 which may be objectionable. This is particularly likely to occur at locations of said spoke means 58 quite near to the main furnace lire box 22 and, where this problem exists, means for preventing localized hot spots on the spoke means 58 may be provided, and this may comprise the provision of Ihollow interiors 140 in each such spoke means `58, as is best shown in FIG. 4 illustrating one such exemplary hollow spoke means 58, which may then be partially filled with a metallic heat-conductive means or material, such as is designated at 142 in FIG. 4 and which has a melting point lower than the temperature to which said spoke means 58 is to be subjected by hot furnace flue gases impinging thereupon and passing therearound. It will be understood that when localized overheating of the spoke 58 tends to occur, the melted heatconductive metal 142 moves around within the hollow interior of the spoke means 58 under the action of the rotary movement of the corresponding wheel means 56 (this being true because it will be remembered that the entire ore-ow tube means 36 is being power-rotated by the driving means 70). Such movement of the liquified heat-conductive metal 142 (which might comprise lead, or the like) will act to positively prevent any localized hot spots and will tend to maximize heat transfer eiciency and equalize temperatures along the complete spoke means to a degree such as to protect them against localized overheating damage.

The air inflow means 112 carried by the lower end effctive terminal plate 92 is illustrated fragmentarily in FIG. 5 and the corresponding structure of the upper air inflow means 112 carried by the upper inflow end 38 of the ore-flow tube 36A is illustrated in FIG. 6. However,

these are optional, as are the particular structures of the upper regulating gate means and the lower regulating gate means form of lower effective terminal plate 92.

It should be understood that the figures and the specific description thereof set forth .in this application are for the purpose of illustrating the present invention and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention to the precise and detailed specific structure shown in the figures and specifically described hereinbefore. Rather, the real invention is intended to include substantially equivalent constructions embodying the basic teachings and inventive concept of the present invention.

I claim:

1. A rotary longitudinal kiln for roasting a material which is to be treated by the application of heat thereto, comprising: static heating furnace means having an inten'or main furnace heating chamber therein and heating means in heat transfer relationship with respect to said interior furnace heating chamber, said interior `furnace heating chamber of said furnace means being provided with an extended static interiorly substantially cylindrical material-treatment portion having a remote end portion spaced therefrom and provided with an exhaust flue for venting exhaust flue gases to ambient atmosphere; a longitudinal hollow material-flow tube of a material of high thermal conductivity mounted within said extended material-treatment portion of said furnace means in an inner position and being of smaller exterior cross-sectional diameter than the minimum effective interior cross-sectional diameter of said extended materialtreatment portion of said furnace means whereby to define therebetween an annular longitudinal hot furnace flue gas passage extending from said interior heating chamber of said furnace means to said exhaust ilue and being in effective heat transfer relationship with respect to said inner material-flow tube for elfectively heating material adapted to ow therethrough; mounting means for rotatably mounting said material-flow tube in said inner position within said extended material-treatment portion of said furnace means for rotation around a longitudinal axis of said material-flow tube, at least one of said wheel means effectively comprising an intermediate wheel means positioned between opposite ends of said extended static material-treatment portion of said static furnace means, with said extended static materialtreatment portion being provided with an annular recess at the location of said wheel means and receiving said wheel means therein, with said wheel means effectively comprising a longitudinal material-dow tube support structure extending outwardly therefrom to the periphery of said annular recess and of adjacent peripheral portions of said extended static material-treatment portion of said furnace means whereby to be effectively annularly aligned with the corresponding portions of said extended static material-treatment portion of the furnace on each side of the corresponding outer part of the annular recess in a manner effectively closing same and positioning the exterior of said wheel means in an exteriorly accessible location providing for exterior rollably supporting contact of the corresponding roller means of the corresponding roller means of the corresponding one of said structural support members with the exterior of said intermediate wheel means; rotative driving means in rotative driving relationship with respect to said materialflow tube for rotating same around said longitudinal axis thereof; said material-flow tube having a lower discharge end portion extending in sealed relationship through said interior furnace heating chamber of said furnace means to a position exterior thereof and there being provided with discharge means for said material, said material-dow tube having an upper inflow end portion extending beyond said extended material-treatment portion of said furnace means into a position exterior thereof and there being provided with inflow means adapted to receive a controlled inflow thereinto of said material l 5 which is to' be treated by the application of heat thereto; saidheating means being adapted to heat said interior furnace chamber of said furnace means to a temperature sufficiently high to transfer sufficient heat to the interior Vof a lower disassociation portion of said material-dow tube sealingly positioned therein to cause disassociation of at least oneV desired constituent material portion of said material from the remainder thereof and such as to effectively vaporize said disassociated desired constituent material portion into a vapor; and vapor-extraction means in effective interior direct and sealed communication with the interior of said lower disassociation portion of said material-dow tube within said interior furnace heating chamber of said furnace means for positive forcible extraction of said vapor therefrom to the exterior thereof.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said extended material-treatment portion of said furnace means and said inner material-dow tube mounted therein, each extends laterally and upwardly with respect to said interior furnace heating chamber of said furnace means; said mounting means comprising a plurality of circumferentially enlarged stress-transferring wheel means effectively concentrically supporting said longitudinal maferial-flow tube at spaced locations along the length thereof and including a plurality of effectively longitudinally apertured and effectively longitudinally perforate interconnection means comprising wheel spoke means and intervening aperture means interconnecting said wheel means and said longitudinal material-flow tube whereby to effectively cause said longitudinal material-flow tubeV to effectively comprise a common angularly inclined hub for all of said plurality of wheel means, said mounting means also including a plurality of upstanding structural support members provided at the top with roller means 'rollably receiving and supporting corresponding portions of corresponding ones of said plurality of wheel means.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said extendedV material-treatment portion of said furnace means and said inner material-flow tube mounted therein, each extends laterally and upwardly with respect to said interior furnace heating chamber of said furnace means; said mounting means comprising a plurality of circumferentially enlarged stress-transferring wheel means effectively concentrically supporting said longitudinal materialow tube at spaced locations along the length thereof and including a plurality of effectively longitudinally apertured and effectively longitudinally perforate interconnection means comprising wheel spoke means and intervening aperture means interconnecting said wheel means and said longitudinal material-flow tube whereby to effectively cause said longitudinal material-how tube to effectively comprise a common vangularly inclined hub'for all of said plurality of wheel means, said mounting means also including a plurality of upstanding structural support members provided at the top with roller means rollably receiving and supporting corresponding portions of corresponding ones of said plurality of wheel means, a lowermost one of said roller means being eectively provided with thrust-resisting means for receiving, resisting, and reacting to thrust thereagainst provided by the downward angular inclination of said longitudinal material-treatment tube for effectively supporting same against downward and lateral longitudinal movement thereof along the longitudinal axis thereof.

l4. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said extended material-treatment portion of said furnace means and said inner material-low tube mounted therein, each extends laterally and upwardly with respect to said interior furnace heating chamber of said furnace means; said mounting meansV comprising a plurality of circumferentially enlarged stress-transferring wheel means effectively concentrically supporting said longitudinal materialflow tube at spaced locations along the length thereof and including a plurality of effectively longitudinally apertured and effectively longitudinally perforate interconnection means comprising wheel spoke means and intervening aperture means interconnecting said-wheel means and said longitudinal material-flow tube whereby to effectively cause said longitudinal material-How tube to effectively comprise -a common angularly inclined hub for all of said plurality of wheel means, said mounting means also including a plurality of upstanding structural support members provided at the top with roller means rollably receiving and supporting corresponding portions of corresponding ones of said plurality of Wheel means, at least certain of said spoke means in hightemperature portions of said annular flue gas passage being interiorly hollow and being partially filled with a heat-conductive means therein having a melting point lower than the temperature to which said spoke means are adapted to be subjected by fine gases passing therearound, thus providing for effective liquification of said heat-conducting means for preventing localized heating of said spoke means and the consequent raising of the temperature thereof beyond permissible limits.

5. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, including material supply and feeding means adapted to be supplied with a quantity of a particulate material which is to be treated by the application of heat thereto and which is in gravityfeeding relationship with respect to said inflow means at said upper inflow end portion of said material-flow tube.

6. Apparatus `as defined in claim 1, wherein said vaporextraction means comprises a vapor-extractor tube having suction pump means in communication with a portion thereof and having an insertion end thereof extended into the interior of said lower disassociation portion of said material-flow tube positioned within said interior furnace heating chamber of said furnace means and having an open suction end at said location for positive aspiration of said vapor into said extractor tube, said vapor-extraction means being provided with condenser means connected to the interior of said extractor tube for condensing the extracted vapor into a condensed form of said constituent material portion originally disassociated from said treated material by the heating thereof, said condenser means Vhaving-a discharge end for said condensed constituent material portion.

7. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said interior main furnace heating chamber of said furnace means and said extended material-treatment portion of Y said furnace means are provided with effective thermal insulation means.

8. A mercury-extraction apparatus for treating mercury-containing ore, comprising: static heating furnace means provided with a hollow re box means having an interior main furnace heating chamber therein and heating means in heat transfer relationship with respect to said interior furnace heating chamber, said interior furnace heating chamber of said furnace meansV being provided with an effectively laterally upwardly angularly inclined extended static interiorly cylindrical ore-treatment portion having a remote end portion spaced from said fire box means and provided with an upwardly directed exhaust flue for venting exhaust Vfiue gases to ambient atmosphere; a longitudinal substantially cylindrical hollow ore-flow tube of a metallic material of high lthermal conductivity concentrically mounted within, and along a longitudinal axis of, said extended ore-treatment portion of said furnace means and being of smaller exterior cross-sectional diameter than the interior crosssectional diameter of said extended ore-treatment portion whereby to define therebetween an annular longitudinal hot furnace flue gas passage extending from saidiinterior heating chamber within said fire box means of said Afurnace means to said exhaust flue and being in effective heat transfer relationship with respect to said inner concentricaily positioned ore-flow tube for effectively heating ore adapted to flow downwardly angularly therethrough;

mounting means for rotatably mounting said ore-flow tube in said concentric relationship within said, extended oretreatment portion for rotation around a common'longitudinal laxis thereof, at least one of said wheel means effectively comprising an intermediate wheel means positioned between opposite ends of said extended static oretreatment portion of said static furnace means, with said extended static ore-treatrnent portion being provided with an annular recess at the location of said wheel means and receiving said wheel means therein, with said wheel means effectively comprising a longitudinal ore-flow tube support structure extending outwardly therefrom to the circumferential periphery of said annular recess and of adjacent circumferential peripheral portions of said extended static ore-treatment portion of said furnace means whereby to be effectively annularly aligned with the corresponding portions of said extended static ore-treatment portion of the furnace on each side of the corresponding outer part of the annular recess in a manner effectively closing same and positioning the exterior of said wheel means in an exteriorly accessible location providing for exterior rollably supporting contact of the corresponding roller means of the corresponding one of said structural support member-s with the exterior of said intermediate Wheel means; driving means in driving relationship with respect to said ore-fiow tube for rotating same around said longitudinal axis thereof; said ore-iiow tube having a lower discharge end portion extending laterally and slightly angularly downwardly in sealed relationship through said interior furnace heating chamber of said fire box means of said furnace means to a position exterior thereof and there being provided with a substantially closed terminal discharge end provided with a bottom discharge opening means for discharging treated ore, said ore-flow tube having an upper infiow end portion extending concentrically beyond a remote substantially closed upper end of said extended ore-treatment portion into a position exterior thereof and there being provided with a substantially closed inflow means adapted to receive a controlled flow thereinto of particulate mercury-containing ore from suitable ore supply and feeding means; said heating means being adapted to heat said interior chamber of said fire box means to a temperature sufficiently high to transfer sufficient heat to the interior of -a lower disassociation portion of said ore-flow tube positioned therein to cause disassociation of the mercury-containing ore adapted to ow therethrough into mercury and sulphur and to effectively vaporize the disassocated mercury; and mercury vaporextraction means in effective interior communication with the interior of said lower disassociation portion of said ore-flow tube within said interior heating chamber of said re box means for positive forcible extraction of said mercury vapor therefrom to the exterior thereof.

9. Apparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein said mounting means comprises a plurality of circumferentially enlarged stress-transferring wheel means effectively concentrically rigidly connected to and supporting said longitudinal ore-ow tube means at spaced locations along the length thereof by a plurality of longitudinally effectively apertured and perforate wheel spoke means whereby to effectively cause said longitudinal ore-flow tube to effectively comprise a common hub for all of said plurality of wheel means, said mounting means also including a plurality of upstanding structural support members provided at the top with roller means rollably receiving and supporting corresponding portions of corresponding ones of said plurality of wheel means.

.10. Apparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein said mounting means comprises a plurality of circumferentialenlarged stress-transferring wheel means effectively concentrically rigidly connected to and supporting said longitudinal ore-flow tube means at spaced locations along the length thereof by a plurality of longitudinally effectively apertured and perforate wheel spoke means whereby to effectively cause said longitudinal ore-flow tube to effectively comprise a common hub for all of said plurality of wheel means, said mounting means also including a plurality of upstanding structural support members provided at the top with roller means rollably receiving and supporting corresponding portions of correspoding ones of said plurality of wheel means, a lowermost one of said roller means being effectively provided with thrust ange mean and effective thrust bearing means for receiving and reacting to the thrust thereagainst provided by the downward angular inclination of said longitudinal orefiow tube for effectively supporting samevagainst longitudinal movement thereof along the longitudinal axis thereof.

11. Apparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein said mounting means comprises a plurality of circumferentially enlarged stress-transferring wheel means effectively concentrically rigidly connected to and supporting said longitudinal ore-flow tube means at spaced locations along the length thereof by a plurality of longitudinally effectively apertured and perforate wheel spoke means whereby to effectively cause said longitudinal ore-flow tube to effectively comprise a common hub for all of said plurality of wheel means, said mounting means also including a plurality of upstanding structural support members provided at thetop with roller means rollably receiving and supporting corresponding portions of corresponding ones of said plurality of wheel means, at least certain of said spoke means in high-temperature portions of said annular flue gas passage being interiorly hollow and being partially filled with a metallic heat-conductive means therein having a melting point lower than the temperature to which said spoke means are adapted to be subjected by flue gases passing therearound, thus providing for effective liquilication of said metallic heat-conducting means for preventing localized heating of said spoke means and the consequent raising of the temperature thereof beyond permissible limits.

12. Apparatus as defined in claiml S, including ore supply and feeding means comprising bin and hopper means adapted to be supplied through a top opening thereinto with a quantity of said mercury-containing ore in crushed particulate form of a desired average or maximum particle size.

13. Apparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein said mercury vapor-extraction means comprises a mercury vapor extractor tube having suction pump means at one end thereof positioned exterior of said ore-ow tube and having an insertion end thereof extended through said substantially closed lower discharge end of said ore-fiow tube concentrically along the length thereof into the interior disassociation portion thereof positioned within said interior heating chamber of said fire box means and having an open suction end at said location for aspiration of said mercury vapor into said suction tube, said mercury vapor-extraction means being provided with condenser means exterior of said ore-flow tube for condensing the extracted mercury vapor into liquid mercury and having a discharge end for said condensed liquified mercury.

14. Apparatus as defined in claim 13, wherein said condenser means comprises an effective heat exchanger, taking the form of a coiled length of tubing in communication with said mercury vapor-extractor tube, and means for effectively applying a coolant medium in heat transfer relationship with the exterior thereof.

15. Apparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein said fire box means of said furnace means and said extended oretreatrnent portion of said furnace means are provided with effective interior thermal insulation comprising refractory firebrick means.

16. Apparatus as defined in claim 8, including means for providing said controlled ow of said particulate mercury-containing ore into said inflow means at said upper inow end of said ore-flow tube comprising regulating gate means adjustably positioned for providing a variable depth downwardly angularly inclinedly directed 19 eective flow opening in gravity-feeding relationship relative to said upper inilow means of said ore-flow tube and a supply of said particulate mercury-containing ore fro suitable oreisupply and feeding means.

1.7. -Apparatus as dened in cl'aim 8, including means for providing said controlled flow of said particulate mercury-containing ore Vfrom said ore supply bin and hopper means into said inflow means at said upper inow end of said ore-ow tube comprising controllably adjust- `able regulating gate means and' downwardly angularly vinclined spout means carrying -said regulating gate means in an adjustably positionedmanner for providing a variable depth downwardly angularly inclinedly directed efective ow opening at the bottom 'of said spout in gravityrfeedingrelationship relative to said upper inflow means of said ore-flow tube.

18;Apparatus as defined in'claim 8, including means providingcontrolled gravity-feeding discharge of treated ore from said discharge 'opening means lat said lower :terminal discharge end of said ore-flow tube comprising a controllably adjustably openable and closable discharge gate means. l 19. Apparatus as defined in claim 8, including air inilow means'in interior communication with said ore-flow tu-be for providing sufficient inow of air thereinto for 20 substantially completely oxidizing said vdi'sasso'ciat''i"fs'ulphur originally contained in Sad Yorei 'prio tothe heatcaused dsassociationthereof? "I 20. Apparatus asdened'in'claim 8,"inc1udng-airfjnflow means carried by "said 'lower -substar'rtially-v closed terminalV discharge endan'd said upper substantially :closed inflow end of said ore-How tube f and `in interior communication with saidfore-ow tube for-providing'"suicientiinow of-air thereinto for substantiallyfcornpletely Aoxidizing saidfdisassociated sulphur originallyfcontained'fin ysaid ore prior to' the heat-caused "disassociation' thereof.'

8/189 1', D Qug1a s ,26'3 3 4 1,004,916 1o/1911,l f1 1,320,614 11,/ 1919l 1,358,327 '1i/1920, 1,806,596 5/11931;

980,640 1/1911 Hughes 266-@418 3,233,982 2/1966 Maginn ,266 18 XR J. SPENCER oVERHoL'sER, PfimfyEmmine'r.' R. s. ANNEAR, Assistant Examiner. 

